We've got a big fire up here in the Bay Area, more than 32K acres have burned. http://cbs5.com/local/local_story_197160042.html

It's on the other side of the mountain but I've been able to see the smoke from this one for days. Fortunately it look like they got it under control now.

A couple of years ago we had a big fire really close to us. We were'nt in any danger but we could see the flames from our house, at night the sky to the south would glow orange. Pretty wild. Apparently that one started when a meth lab blew.

These fires are really nothing new to us. It doesn't rain from about april to october out here. Combine that with hot, over 100 today, weather and it's just a matter of time. The question isn't so much "if?" but "when?" and "where?".